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Oil service workers and bystanders look over the 25-foot deep hole used to rescue 18-month-old Jessica McClure in Midland, Texas, as the hole is plugged with cement, Oct. 17, 1987. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

View of the rescue operation and news media during which Midlanders were trying to save Jessica McClure from the water well into which she had fallen in Midland, Texas, Oct. 1987. (AP Photo)

David Lilly, an official from the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Carlsbad, N.M., demonstrates to rescue workers the procedure he wishes them to take in their attempt to rescue 18-month-old Jessica McClure in Midland, Texas, Oct. 16, 1987. Jessica fell 22 feet in an abandoned water well on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Rescuers prepare to lower a volunteer into a well parallel to the one 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell into, during rescue efforts in Midland, Texas, Oct. 17, 1987. (AP Photo)

View of the rescue operation during which Midlanders were trying to save Jessica McClure from the water well into which she had fallen in Midland, Texas, Oct. 1987. (AP Photo)

Rescue workers use lights as they work into the second day of trying to rescue 13-month-old Jessica McClure, who is trapped about 22-feet in an abandoned water well in Midland, Oct. 16, 1987. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Eighteen-month old Jessica McClure is held by rescue worker Steven Forbes Friday night, Oct. 16, 1987 after she was trapped 22 feet under ground in an abandoned water well since Wednesday morning. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Doctors and nurses from Midland Memorial hospital look over 18 month old Jessica McClure on Oct. 17, 1987 after she was brought to the hospital after spending more than 50 hours trapped in an abandoned water well in Midland. (AP Photo/John Brennan)

Jessica McClure who was in a water well for over 50 hours in Midland, Texas, is seen with her mother and father, Reba and Chip Oct. 18, 1987. (AP Photo/J. P. Hearn)

19-month-old Jessica McClure holds her mother's hand as they leave the Midland Memorial Hospital in Midland, Texas, on November 20, 1987. The toddler spent more than a month in the hospital after she was rescued from the abandoned water well she was trapped in for 50 hours. (AP Photo)

A craftsman proudly displays the gift which he created for 18-month-old Jessica McClure who was successfully rescued from a 22-foot (6.7 meter) underground abandoned water well in Midland, Texas, Oct. 17, 1987. The metal cover will be placed over the opening in the ground where Jessica fell in. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Closeup of the well cover created by Willie Thames of Midland, Tex., Oct. 17, 1987. The cover was placed over the abandoned well where 18 month old Jessica McClure was trapped for more than 50 hours before being freed by rescuers on Friday night. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Two-year-old Jessica McClure hugs a dog character during a fund raiser in Lancaster, Texas on Thursday, March 31, 1988, for a young boy in need of a heart-lung transplant. Jessica attracted international attention in October when she was trapped for more than 50 hours in a dry well in Midland, Texas. Her mother Reba is in the background. (AP Photo/Ron Heflin)

Texas Rangers manager Bobby Valentine reaches to kiss two-year-old Jessica McClure on the hand before home opener against the Cleveland Indians in Arlington, Texas on Monday, April 4, 1988. Jessica, being held by her mother, 'Cissy' attracted international attention last October when she trapped in a dry well in Midland, Texas for over 50 hours. Jessica threw out the first pitch of the game. (AP Photo/Ron Heflin)

Jessica McClure, the child rescued from a hole in the ground shown in Los Angeles on April 10, 1989. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Jessica McClure, the object of the nation's attention for 58 hours as rescuers struggled to pull her from an abandoned well, came to the White House in Washington on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 1989 and stole not only the scene but the President George H.W. Bush's glasses and handkerchief. Bush laughs as she tries on his glasses during presentation of the first Midland Community Spirit Award to Sioux City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Barry Thumma)

PHOTOS: On This Day: Baby Jessica Rescued From A Well As World Watches

On this day in 1987, in an event that had viewers around the world glued to their televisions, 18-month-old Jessica McClure is rescued after being trapped for 58 hours in an abandoned water well in Midland, Texas.
The drama unfolded on the morning of October 14, 1987, when McClure fell through the 8-inch-wide opening of an abandoned well while playing with other children in the backyard of her aunt’s home day-care center. After dropping about 22 feet into the well, the little girl became stuck.
On the night of October 16, a bandaged and dirt-covered but alert Baby Jessica, as she became widely known, was safely pulled out of the well by paramedics. By that time, scores of journalists had descended on Midland, a West Texas oil city, and the rescue was carried out on live television before a massive audience.